There's a recording entitled "Slaunch to Donegal", which was recorded by Don &
Marie Armstrong many years ago. It starts with Don prompting the calls ahead of
the musical phrase, followed on the next repeat of the dance by Marie singing
the calls, "on" the phrase, if you will. The very last time through, Don joins
in with harmony as the two of them sing the last figure. It's very
entertaining. However, I would not recommend it for the first few iterations
of the dance, since the call is sung at the same time as the dancers need to
dance on phrase, unlike a prompted call, which precedes the phrase and gives
time for the dancers to react. It's more like something you would slip into as
the dance progresses.
Ron Nelson
Chula Vista, CA
> Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 11:22:03 -0700
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Sung contras
>
> What a fun question.
>
> This is not "real" singing, but because I sang for years before learning to
> call, I often find myself matching the pitch of my voice to the key the band
> is
> playing in. At first, this happened subconsciously. Dancers have commented on
> how they find that 'singing' pleasing, which at first embarrassed me since I
> wasn't even aware I was doing it and it's unusual. Now when I know the tune,
> I
> sometimes will 'sing' entire lines to the tune, just for fun.
>
> I once heard Roger Diggle call in a way that held out certain phrases in a
> long
> singing fashion - "there's your traaaaaaail buddy," which added considerably
> to
> my enjoyment of the dance.
>
>
> I think 'singing' contra bits can help some calls be much more integrated
> with
> the music and dancers' moves than the more currently common 'chop chop'
> spoken
> calling style, especially because singing the call helps us stay right on
> rhythm.
>
>
> Someone told me that Ralph Page used to 'sing' calls like that too. Maybe
> it's
> time to bring it back!
>
>
> Tina
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